Bill Cosby has an advanced degree in education, but so what? I also have an advanced degree so I know that as easily as having one can mean you have exceptional knowledge of the subject area, it can just as easily mean you don't know squat. Since the majority of you who read this probably had no previous knowledge of Cosby's academic accomplishments, we can certainly use that fact to illustrate that academics isn't the best indicator of who he is and what his contribution to society is about. My point is 99.9% of you know Bill Cosby as a comedian. As the patriarch of the whitewashed "Cosby Show" of the 80s (and some of you who are older as the star of "I Spy", the "Bill Cosby Show", movies like "Uptown Saturday Night", and a number of brilliantly funny stand up comedy albums). So, since his claim is as a comedian, why are so many African people responding to his ongoing ignorant and intellectually void rants about the state of African people as if the community Griot has spoken? I don't know about you, but I'm not going to go to a comedian to get an analysis about our people. Especially one who has built a fortune making white people laugh by disarming Africans and presenting a palatable - read accommodating - presentation of us during some of the most turbulent times of this society's history.

I know. I've heard the old tired dictum that African people need to take responsibility for ourselves. I hear that and I challenge you to find one committed African activist who doesn't know that already. Who isn't working positively to achieve that. You see, I've mentored dozens of "troubled" African young men and women over the years. I've traveled throughout the African world. I've worked to build organizational capacity for positive change with Africans all over the world. I've studied and developed an analysis of the problems that impact African people wherever we are on the planet. I know the problems we face are not just in the U.S. or Africa, or Europe. I know the reasons why we are in the position we are in. So, with my personal experience with the African reality, I don't need Bill Cosby to tell me anything. Especially when I know what he's saying is completely absurd. Examples? And this is for all you sellouts who focus so much attention on how our young people dress. Stop only telling our young people to pull their pants up, speak "right" and lose their anger. You are completely disarming our youth when you do that. The issue isn't how our young people are dressing or talking. Look, I understand who is in power. It's the European dominated capitalist system and that system is diametrically opposed to the masses of African people. We get that, but what we understand that you are missing is the solution is to explain to our youth that the problem is they lack power. It's not a value judgement. The people who determine "correct" English or style of dress are the people in power so since we are the people they dominated and exploited to achieve that power, of course our status is 100% opposed to the values they represent. This needs to be explained to our youth. The way I do it is I tell them the real issue isn't about how they dress because if they figure out a way to control oil, diamonds, and other valuable resources, no one will be focused on what they have on or how they talk beyond imitating it to get a meeting with them. The problem is power. I've told hundreds of young Africans that we need a collective plan to empower our people. Then, they will be respected, but until we get there, they need to learn the so-called "right" way to dress, talk, and act. Not because their way is wrong. It isn't, but because tactically, we are not in control right now. We must tell them to protect our culture, that includes Africanized English or what some of you call Ebonics, but use the power structure's methods of speaking, etc., as a tactical way to maintain while we organize for justice. This balanced approach provides the youth with a scientific analysis of where they stand in relationship to the power structure without diminishing their value and culture (which is the objective of the imperialist system we try so hard to fit into every day). This is the correct context to explain things to our youth, but you wouldn't know that if you haven't seriously studied our reality and worked with our youth and people like Cosby clearly haven't done any of that. If he had, he would know our people want a better life and are willing to work harder than anyone to achieve it, but we have a multitude of self esteem issues to overcome, along with institutional roadblocks, and we need people like him working positively with our youth to help them overcome that. Five hundred years of racism and colonial education and mis-education will do that to any people.

Another example of the stupidity spewing from Cosby's lips is his constant bantering that we are not Africans. Look, I understand that weak people like him, and some of you, want to identify only with who you perceive as a winner. You know nothing about Africa or our history so you don't understand why Africa is poor so you take the bait and try to fit into the amerikkkan identity framework. The problem is that Africa is poor specifically because of the ongoing systematic rape carried out against it by the capitalist countries, but those days are numbered. So, instead of repeating the same old tired and discredited theory that we are "amerikkkans" just simply because we are languishing in this backward country, we should do a little self study and at least review Malcolm X's right on target comment 50 years ago when he stated that "when a cat has kittens in an oven you don't call the kittens biscuits!" We are without question Africans. Whether you know anything about Africa, whether you understand any of the history that has you over in the West in the first place, all of that is ill relevant. You are African whether you know it or not. Whether you like it or not. As Africa marches forward towards Pan-Africanism and socialism much of that negativity associated with our homeland will dissipate, but in the meantime, stop mimicking Cosby's ignorant analysis of history.

The only thing wrong with our people is that we refuse to listen to the people who had our best interests at heart. Those brave people laid out the groundwork. We have the work of Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sekou Ture, Amilcar Cabral, Assata Shakur, Kwame Ture, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and so many others. What's wrong with us is we refuse to heed their warnings. Instead, we shut them out and listen to people like Cosby when he couldn't balance out with the spittle of any of those giants. We listen to him because it's easier. We don't have to do anything and we can justify our inaction by pointing the finger at our people the way he does instead of responding to the call to work for our people as our giants have encouraged us to do. This cowardice is what's wrong with our people. So, I'll listen to Cosby talk about the difference between playing basketball at 50 as opposed to 20, but when it comes to our people's forward progress - maybe it's time you hang it up Bill. You are getting in the way of serious people who are working to solve the problems you gloss over and you are confusing people who we are trying to wake up. That's the truth and any of you who do any work know that. For the rest of you, maybe you should also shut up and get serious. While you're pontificating, our people are suffering.

Author

I don't see disagreement as a negative because I understand that Frederick Douglass was correct when he said "there is no progress without struggle." Our brains are muscles. Just like any other muscle in our body if we don't stress it and push it, the brain will not improve. Or, as a bumper sticker I saw once put it, "If you can't change your mind, how do you know it's there?"